Musical chairs
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In 1972, a Chinese table tennis team visited the University of Michigan to improve United States-China relations. The historic event caught the attention of Robert Nederlander Sr, then a Regent at the University of Michigan, who later headed a delegation of professors and scholars to China, in 1976 to meet senior Chinese government officials and leading administrators.
In 2000, Robert Nederlander Jr - Nederlander's son and president and CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, which manages theaters and presents Broadway productions across the US - renewed the family's interest in China by exploring the possibility of bringing Broadway musicals here.
In 2005, he teamed up with Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co Ltd to establish Nederlander New Century, making it the first foreign joint venture allowed in the nation's performing arts industry.
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A scene from Broadway hit Forever Tango which will be staged at Huairou Theater during the Spring Festival. [file photo from China Daily] |
"China fascinates me. It's truly a unique cultural market," Nederlander Jr says in a telephone interview from New York.
"I'm often asked 'Why China?' and perhaps today there's an obvious answer. It's one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with tremendous opportunities," he says.
The joint venture mapped out an ambitious three-step plan to expand in China's entertainment market. The first was to bring in Western musicals; the second, to produce Chinese language versions and, finally, to develop original Chinese musicals.
In 2007, they brought 42nd Street to nine cities in China and the next year, the Grammy-award winning Aida toured 12 cities.
In December 2008, the company collaborated with the Central Academy of Drama to produce a Mandarin-language version of Fame, the Broadway musical about students aspiring to stardom.
But then came the financial crisis. The American International Group (AIG), which had invested heavily in the joint venture, was dealt a death blow. This was further compounded by disagreements on management and Nederlander broke up with Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co Ltd.
But he is back with a new English version of Fame, which will wrap up its current China tour with three shows at Beijing's China Theater from Feb 7 to 9.
The posters for the show list four Chinese companies, indicating Nederlander's new partnerships with local companies. But Nederlander does not mention the end of the joint venture and instead says:
"We still work with Beijing New Century the partnership with different local companies depends on different projects.
"I seek out those who share the same goals, and it's a win-win arrangement. Like any solid partnership, it takes time to mature and a lot of patience."
Nederlander is not the only Broadway company eyeing the China market. Another New York producer, Broadway Asia International, will bring its production Forever Tango to Huairou Theater in Beijing's northern suburb from Feb 16 -21.
This is the second time Broadway Asia International collaborating with the Huairou district government. Last year, from mid-October to December, 70 shows of the musical Race for Love were held at the newly-opened Huairou Theater, drawing more than 30,000 people.
Theaters in the suburbs means lower costs, but not everyone believes the 30,000-strong audience figure. How many, they wonder, would drive an hour through clogged roads to watch a show?
According to Liu Yan, director of the Huairou Commerce and Exhibition Promotion Center, which was involved in presenting the show, most of those who watched Race for Love, government officials, company staff and students, were told to watch it to learn English.
But Simone Genatt, chairman of Broadway Asia International, does not think there is anything wrong with the choice of Huairou.
"We always do that in the US. Almost all the productions are launched outside New York, say, in New Jersey or Chicago, to develop audiences and revise the productions, before it finally goes to Broadway," Genatt told China Daily on Saturday when she was in Huairou to discuss a new project with the district authorities.
The government's favorable policies ever since it opened the entertainment industry to foreign investment in 2005, has also contributed to the growing interest in Chinese audiences. There is now a concerted effort to develop creative industries, build new theaters and establish "cultural industry bases" in major cities.
However, it's not always smooth sailing. Broadway companies have to deal with unfamiliar rules and policies, language barriers and cultural differences when localizing productions and run the risk of audiences turning away from an unfamiliar kind of entertainment.
"In China, the musical is still relatively new to audiences outside of Shanghai and Beijing, so there's an educational process about what exactly Broadway is," Nederlander says, but adds that musicals have been attracting more crowds in recent years.
"Ticket-buying habits is another challenge. In Shanghai, people know to purchase tickets only as a single buyer, but in Beijing people can acquire tickets through friends or other sources. It's not an easy environment in which to do business. But we should be patient; it just takes time."
Genatt mentions that it's important to find the right local partners who are familiar with the market, the audience as well as the approval process.
In order to localize productions, both Nederlander and the Broadway Asia International try to train performers in singing, dancing and acting. Broadway Asia International, for example, worked with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to do Sound of Music in 2006, and with the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center to do I Love You, You Are Perfect, Now Change in 2007. It also holds annual summer camps to train young talents.
In addition to collaborating with the Central Academy of Drama, this spring, Nederlander will start a program at Peking University for students and professionals who understand Broadway. The company will also sponsor a 10-day trip to Broadway.
Despite the Broadway companies' upbeat outlook, only a few productions sell well in Beijing.
When Cats premiered in 2004, it drew an audience of more than 40,000. China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA), the presenting company earned some 10 million yuan from the eight sold-out shows at the Great Hall of the People. When Cats returned in 2008, it cost CAPP 5.5 million yuan (US$805,000) to market the show while the box-office revenue was only 9.9 million yuan. And when Cats toured Beijing for the third time last year, it cost CPAA 6 million yuan and earned even less - 8 million yuan.
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The Broadway musical Fame will wrap up its China tour in Beijing next week. |
Cats and Cameron Mackintosh's Mamma Mia! were probably the only two musicals that really made money in Beijing. In 2007, Mamma Mia! took 10 million yuan in Beijing.
Others, including Rent (2005), West Side Story (2006), Cinderella and Hair Spray (produced by Broadway Asia International in 2008) and Aida (by Nederlander in 2008) all failed at the box office.
But as the West struggles with recession and Japan and South Korea, the two major Asian markets, have also been hit by the economic crisis, the market potential of China seems too good to resist.
Really Useful Group will bring Beauty and Beast here this year followed by the Phantom of Opera in 2011.
Nederlander plans to localize Singing in the Rain, with Chinese casts singing in Mandarin.
The next project for Broadway Asia International is a musical adapted from the Chinese tale The Peony Pavilion, that will be staged in collaboration with the Huairou district government and Beijing Performing Arts Group.
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